Tokkou

Overview:

When you hear the word "anime" what pops into your mind? Do you think of the beautiful movies of Hayao Miyazaki? Do you think of generic shonen series like Dragonball Z, Naruto, or Bleach? Perhaps you think of the artistic and Avant Garde works of Satoshi Kon or Masaaki Yuasa? For someone like me who was born in the late 1980s and grew up in the 1990s watching the anime available on American TV, I first think of highly formulaic action series with clear character archetypes, mediocre animation, and attempts to use pointless gore and nudity to make themselves edgier than the animation of ... other countries. Tokko aired on 2 separate channels in the US: Syfy and Chiller. It is the very epitome of mediocrity. It perhaps above all other series I can think of perfectly represents what my generation thought of "anime" at the time.

Plot and characters: 4/10

Spoilers!!! (Not that anyone reading this would care)

Tokko begins with a group of teens fighting demons that attacked them years ago and now those demons wish to finish the job. The teens all have special brands on their bodies that help the demons hunt them down. This plot point was completely stolen from Berserk, but I digress. Our teenage heroes slay the demons with magical swords and many times the action and plot heavily resembles that of Bleach. Although actually Tokko came out the year before Bleach. The demons that are causing trouble in the human world all came through a portal opened by mad alchemists seeking immortality. In order to seal the portal, the powerful 108 demons (Hindu/Buddhist reference) must be defeated and their shards reclaimed. With 108 main enemies to defeat, you would think that this series would drag on for years. Although that was indeed the writer's original intent, the series was dropped after 1 season and ended forever on a complete cliffhanger. A brief Radio Drama came out only in Japan that was supposed to wrap up the plot, but even that didn't work out! The characters are all the exact types you have seen again and again! I have said before that this is one of the most generic anime you will ever see, and I REALLY mean that.

Art and Music: 5/10

The opening "Sunny Day" is very generic J-pop tune representative of the time. The OST is completely forgettable. It isn't bad, but it isn't good either. The animation was considered mediocre then and would probably seem a bit dated to young viewers today. The people on Syfy channel really thought this anime would sell because it had some tits and blood, but no one really paid attention. This anime quickly vanished from the public mind and plunged into the deepest obscurity.

Overall: 5/10

Tokko is not a good show, neither is it a particularly bad show. It is an extremely generic action anime of the late 1990s/early 2000s. It is the exact kind of anime that me and my peers grew up watching on American TV at this time. If any of my fellow "oldtaku" want a blast from the past, they should watch an episode of Tokko and have a laugh. If younger readers of this review want to see what watching anime was like in the old days when all the anime we saw was either on TV or at the local video store, then check out an episode. This was the kind of stuff we watched, because the total quantity of anime available to us was low and the quality was also fairly low. We usually were much less cynical and jaded than today's otaku. We didn't attack series for lack of realism as if everything NEEDED to be a Chekhov play(or Ping Pong). We didn't freak out that visual quality wasn't 1080p. If something didn't absolutely SUCK ASS, like the shit Central Park Media always dumped on us, we were God damn happy! That is why we watched shit like Tokko and were content with it. Before you young ones judge us, try and put yourselves in our shoes and imagine what it was like.

A rather good anime ruined with an incredibly disappointing (lack of) ending. Though it lacks anything spectacular or unique with its plot, setting, or characters, Tokko is for the most part a good action series with good action scenes, and is able to hold the viewer in with its deepening mystery and conspiracy behind the secret organization Tokko and the evils it fights. Another thing it has going with it is, yes, fanservice - some may complain it's overboard but I think it's actually handled rather well. However, once again, the series is ultimately ruined by its short length and obviously rushed conclusion - it's ... such a shame they couldn't continue it for as long as they hoped.

Story: 3 (Poor)

Don't get me wrong, the story behind Tokko is excellent - and, as much of a paradox as it may seem, that's precisely why its rated so low. Tokko's plot revolves around Ranmaru, a recent graduate of the Tokyo police academy who is accepted into a special operations branch; he spends much of his time trying to investigate a mysterious, paranormal event that occurred in the apartment complex he lived in as a child which left his parents dead. Soon after joining the police force, however, he begins to encounter strange monsters which inhabit people's bodies and induces as demonic, zombie-like state. When bullets prove ineffective, a mysterious and secret branch of the police known only as Tokko steps in and cuts the demons down. Ranmaru starts investigating Tokko at the behest of his boss, which attracts their attention. They discover that Ranmaru possesses powers which may prove helpful towards fighting the demons, and Ranmaru discovers that these demons may be links to his parents' deaths.

Unfortunately, all of the binding plot points and intrigue that comes with a compelling, mystery-laden story like this comes for naught. The story comes to an abrupt end at episode 13 as it is cleared that this series was not renewed for what should've been a well-deserved second season, and the only conclusion we get is a trite epilogue over the end credits of the final episode that leaves the viewer feeling cheated. It is for this reason that the story ends up being rated so low; there's no point investing any time or emotion for a story that builds up to a blank conclusion.

Art - 7 (Good)

The art is at least decent and on par with other popular works, the special effects help carry the story along, and at least the ladies are very sexily drawn :)

Sound - 7 (Good)

The sound quality is good, and the music pretty ok save for the OP, whose only saving grace is that TVs come with mute buttons now.

Characters - 7 (Good)

Tokko comes with some pretty interesting characters - Ranmaru himself is pretty interesting: devoted towards the care of his sister who also is a recent recruit into the police force; towards the investigation of who's responsible for his parents' murder and discovering the truth behind the Tokko organization and discovering the true meaning behind the dreams he's been having. The show's supporting cast is diverse, along with Ranmaru's boss who provides a combination of comedic relief and a level of GAR that sometimes approaches Kamina's, or at least Bruce Campbell's, taking down a horde of zombies with a freakin' machine gun! The female cast is pretty interesting as well; they heap on the fanservice yet are very well developed and motivated.

Enjoyment - 8 (Very Good)

For the short while it lasts, Tokko is a very enjoyable series with the right amount of action mixed in with the right amount of mystery and intrigue. People will be glued to the series wanting to discover whether or not Ranmaru will avenge his parents, if Tokko will stop the "Big Bad" from accomplishing his demonic goals, and just how deep and twisted does this ancient demonic conspiracy run. This enjoyment, however, is ruined when most of these questions are given rushed answers, or none at all.

Overall - 6 (Fair)

Overall, Tokko is an excellent series which unfortunately got cheated from a proper ending, and this will effect the viewer's enjoyment in turn, as much of the enjoyment comes from the deepening conspiracies which revolve around the forces Tokko fights against. Unfortunately, these conspiracies come to rushed conclusions, and the final show-down between Ranmaru and the evils Tokko fights barely happens at all. Anit-climatic indeed.

I great start to a series, but a ruined ending... or should I say a lack therof. They just...stopped. No explanation or reason. That was it. Otherwise a enjoyable series until then. Violence, good fights, good story potential.

Tokko was interesting. I was promised zombies and only kind of got my wish. It wasn't bad at all and I actually enjoyed it, but there were flaws (Like the ending)

Story: 7/10 - The story was good and had a cool plot. It was executed fairly well, but it went in a lot different direction than I expected. I did enjoy the story but it seemed lacking and it just kind of ended.... very abruptly.

Art: 5/10 - I honestly don't care about art or how bad it is, but this did have an older feel to it, which honestly isn't my favorite style. It was ... somewhat nostalgic though.

Sound: 5/10 - Nothing too memorable, but nothing too bad. I don't personally care enough to put the soundtrack on my playlist though.

Character: 6/10 - I actually liked a lot of the characters. At least the ones that I could remember. The show ended too soon for me to really get to know all the characters. The characters were not bad though. They just needed to be more developed.

Enjoyment: 6/10 - I enjoyed this and watched it all the way through. I liked what it was doing, but am dissapointed with the ending.

Overall: 6/10 - I would recommend this because I did enjoy it, but it's definitely not for everyone

BONUS: Watchability
Violence: 8/10
Fanservice and Sexual Content 6/10 - (No Fanservice, but a few brief shots of a topless girl in the fog)
Profanity: 8/10

It doesn't feel like Tokkuou's a real anime as much as a template for an anime.

Story 5/10

The story is very straight forward, but, in my opinion, that's the problem because it makes the anime feel bland and boring. So Ranmaru wants to find the people who killed his parents, finds out they were killed by monsters, he joins Tokkou to kill the monsters, and at the climax fights the evil mastermind whose controlling the monsters and wants to take over the world.

There weren't really any big twists or surprises and it fells like the writers were really dragging the plot out, like they were ... struggling to make this anime 12 episodes long.

Also, I thought the fight scenes were pretty boring. Ranmaru and the others characters just slice the phantoms half with one swing of their swords so there really isn't that much fighting.

Characters 5/10

Again, these characters don't feel like real characters as much as templates for characters.

We never learn anything about them outside their origin stories. For example, I know Ranmaru wants to kill the monsters that killed his parents, but I can't say anything about his personality or anything I found likeable or memorable about him and that's true for all the characters.

Even when one of the main characters gets killed (which should be an edge of your seat, heart-pounding scene) I don't feel sad or angry or anything because I didn't know anything about this character other than his name and origin story.

Art 6/10

I thought the art was decent. The phantoms looked okay and the little parasite monsters were legitimately creepy. Also, since this is a horror anime, the artist did a good job by including lots of blood.

One character's appearance that really stood out, however, was Kureha. She doesn't wear a shirt!! Seriously, her leather jacket just barely covers her nipples; why does nobody ask her about that?!

Overall 5/10

I'd say Tokkou is a decent anime, but it just doesn't feel like a whole of effort was put into the story, characters, or art designs.